Prime Minister's Office
Translation of Prime Minister’s address at the inauguration of India-Kyrgyzstan Business Forum 
His Excellency Mr. Jeenbekov, President of the Kyrgyz Republic,
Hon'ble Mr. Adilbek Uulu Shumkarbek, Director, Investment Promotion Agency,
Shri Sandip Somani, President FICCI,
Distinguished participants from business, industry and academia from India and Kyrgyzstan
Organizing this business forum between the Indian and Kyrgyz business communities is a matter of great happiness. It is also important that the bilateral phase of my Bishkek visit is being started from this Business Forum. This is an indicator of our shared priorities. India and Kyrgyzstan have had close cultural and economic relations since ancient times. There are immense possibilities of increasing this historic partnership according to the modern times. President Jeenbekov and I would like to expand India-Kyrgyz relations in different areas. And we would especially like to strengthen them in the field of trade and investment. Mr. President gave his guidance to this forum and personally participated in it. I thank him for this.
Friends,
Rapid changes are happening in the world economy. During such times, the economic growth and technological development of a big economy like India are the main factors of sustainability and hope in the world. India is a huge market. Our country's young talent and enthusiastic innovators will play an important role in achieving our goal of becoming a $5 trillion economy.
Friends,
It is evident that presently our bilateral trade and economic partnership is much less than the capability. Therefore, this initiative of Business-Forum is being done at a very opportune time. In my opinion, there are three catalysts to promote trade and investment - appropriate environment, connectivity and business-to-business which means B2B exchanges. I would like to state that to create the right environment we have finalized the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement. Also, we are actively negotiating on the Bilateral Investment Treaty. This will provide a strong base for investment. We have prepared a five-year roadmap to increase bilateral trade. Kyrgyz Republic is a member of Eurasian Economic Union. To increase trade we are also working on Preferential Trade Agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union.
Better connectivity plays an important role in facilitating trade. Chabahar port has emerged as a new form of connectivity between India and Afghanistan. We need to pay more attention to creating better connectivity between India and Central Asia. We have also taken several initiatives to increase B2B exchanges. This year, the "Namaskar Eurasia" trade show will be organized in Bishkek. Various products of India and the Kyrgyz Republic complement each other in the business. We should take advantage of all these opportunities. Kyrgyz organic products have a good reputation in the market. Honey from the mountains, walnut and dairy products from here are well-known for their ecological purity and natural-processing. In the same way, for the traders and investors of India, there are good opportunities in the Kyrgyz Republic in areas of medicine, textiles, railways, hydropower, mining and minerals, and tourism.
Friends,
I wish that all your discussions are fruitful. I encourage Kyrgyz business leaders to work with the Indian entrepreneurs.
All of you are equally welcome in India. And the people of India, as soon as they land here on the airport, listening to Manas makes it feel that the people are quite intimate. When we hear this, it seems that we are attached to the old things of the world, such is the intimacy. If you pay a little attention to the language, then you will find that many words are similar and when you get such similarity, then intimacy is but natural. Both the sides should take advantage of this and may the contribution of business world in the development of both the countries also increase. With this one expectation, many congratulations to all of you.
Many-many thanks to all of you.